Levon Aronian. Armenian with an ELO of 2776 points who currently ranks 10th in international comparison.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Triple French Champion who was recently defeated by Yi Wei at the City of Leon Masters Tournament. Now 12th in world rankings, 2754 ELO points.

Jon Ludvig Hammer. Grandmaster and Norwegian born in 1990 – like Magnus Carlsen. Won the Norwegian National Championship in 2013 and ranks 75th internationally with an ELO of 2665.

*ELO-ratings from May 2015

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The competitors started with a blitz chess tournament on June 15 (3 minutes + 2 seconds, begging at 1st move), the results of which determined the starting positions of the actual tournament.

The prize money fund contained 300,000 US-Dollars, 75,000 of which were reserved for the victor. Ranks two and three were rewarded with 50,000 and 40,000.

Veselin Topalov prevailed with 6.5 out of 9 points after 9 suspenseful rounds over Vishy Anand (6 points) and won the overall tournament. Until the very last round, the two of them fought for the title. Hikaru Nakamura came off 3rd, while Magnus Carlsen, who usually isn’t satisfied with anything other than the gold medal, only ranked 5th at disastrous 3.5 points.

The official FIDE world rankings have already undergone significant changes this year.

While Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana persistently hold out on first and second rank, Hikaru Nakamura has leaped forward due to his recent successes like the third rank at the Zurich Chess Challenge. Certainly worth recognition when considering that he only barely stayed in the Top 10 in the January rakings (9th). His predecessor as the world’s third, Alexander Grischuk, was expelled to 5th place from which he ousted Visvanathan Anand. The vice World Champion now has to comply with 6th rank.

Cursed by his fate is Radoslav Voitaszek who fell back five ranks since the beginning of the year and brings up the rear now. Peter Svidler, Nikita Vitiugov, and Dmitry Andreikin have even completely vanished from the Top 20.

David Navara, Liren Ding, and Evgeny Tomashevsky, on the other hand, have reason to celebrate. The three of them have just arrived in the world’s Top 20! Tomashevsky gained a remarkable 29 ELO-points this year, after he had proved his abilities at the 3rd Grand Prix tournament last week. The Chinese number one, Liren Ding, advanced from 22nd to 19th rank in January and made it to 15th rank now that he performed well at the Tata Steel Tournament. David Navara is literally rocking the ongoing European Championship and has already prevailed over Rui, Parligras, Shimanov, Potkin, and Kempinsky. Not a bad count after eight rounds. It remains to be seen how the final results of this championship and the Reykjavik Open in mid-March affect merry go-round of the world’s Top 20.

Little surprising was Magnus Carlsen’s victory with 9 out of 13 points. His opponents, however, were following up closely: Vachier-Lagrave as well as Giri, Ding, and So scored 8.5 points and ranked shortly behind him in the final standings. Especially Vachier-Lagrave became a threat to the current World Champion. If Carlsen wouldn’t have scored his last half of a point in the final round, the Frenchman would have taken home the trophy.

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Final Rankings

Name

Score

Rating

TPR

Nationality

1

Carlsen, M.

9.0 / 13

2862

2878

NOR

2

Vachier-Lagrave, M.

8.5 / 13

2757

2855

FRA

3

Giri, A.

8.5 / 13

2784

2853

NED

4

So, W.

8.5 / 13

2762

2854

USA

5

Ding, L.

8.5 / 13

2732

2857

CHN

6

Ivanchuk, V.

7.5 / 13

2715

2805

UKR

7

Caruana, F.

7.0 / 13

2820

2769

ITA

8

Radjabov, T.

6.0 / 13

2734

2718

AZE

9

Wojtaszek, R.

5.5 / 13

2744

2689

POL

10

Aronian, L.

5.5 / 13

2797

2685

ARM

11

Hou, Y.

5.0 / 13

2673

2664

CHN

12

Saric, I.

4.5 / 13

2666

2642

CRO

13

Van Wely, L.

4.0 / 13

2667

2611

NED

14

Jobava, B.

3.0 / 13

2727

2536

GEO

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Results of Rounds

Round 1 – Saturday the 10th

Radjabov, T. – Van Wely, L.

½-½

Ivanchuk, V. – Jobava, B.

1-0

Vachier-Lagrave, M. – Hou, Y.

1-0

Ding, L. – Caruana, F.

0-1

Saric, I. – Aronian, L.

½-½

Giri, A. – Carlsen, M.

½-½

So, W. – Wojtaszek, R.

½-½

Round 2 – Sunday the 11th

Van Wely, L. – Wojtaszek, R.

½-½

Carlsen, M. – So, W.

½-½

Aronian, L. – Giri, A.

½-½

Caruana, F. – Saric, I.

1-0

Hou, Y. – Ding, L.

0-1

Jobava, B. – Vachier-Lagrave, M.

½-½

Radjabov, T. – Ivanchuk, V.

½-½

Round 3 – Monday the 12th

Ivanchuk, V. – Van Wely, L.

1-0

Vachier-Lagrave, M. – Radjabov, T.

½-½

Ding, L. – Jobava, B.

1-0

Saric, I. – Hou, Y.

½-½

Giri, A. – Caruana, F.

½-½

So, W. – Aronian, L.

1-0

Wojtaszek, R. – Carlsen, M.

1-0

Round 4 – Tuesday the 13th

Van Wely, L. – Carlsen, M.

0-1

Aronian, L. – Wojtaszek, R.

½-½

Caruana, F. – So, W.

½-½

Hou, Y. – Giri, A.

½-½

Jobava, B. – Saric, I.

0-1

Radjabov, T. – Ding, L.

0-1

Ivanchuk, V. – Vachier-Lagrave, M.

1-0

Round 5 – Thursday the 15th

Vachier-Lagrave, M. – Van Wely, L.

½-½

Ding, L. – Ivanchuk, V.

½-½

Saric, I. – Radjabov, T.

0-1

Giri, A. – Jobava, B.

1-0

So, W. – Hou, Y.

½-½

Wojtaszek, R. – Caruana, F.

1-0

Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L.

1-0

Round 6 – Friday the 16th

Van Wely, L. – Aronian, L.

½-½

Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.

0-1

Hou, Y. – Wojtaszek, R.

½-½

Jobava, B. – So, W.

0-1

Radjabov, T. – Giri, A.

½-½

Ivanchuk, V. – Saric, I.

½-½

Vachier-Lagrave, M. – Ding, L.

1-0

Round 7 – Saturday the 17th

Ding, L. – Van Wely, L.

1-0

Saric, I. – Vachier-Lagrave, M.

0-1

Giri, A. – Ivanchuk, V.

½-½

So, W. – Radjabov, T.

½-½

Wojtaszek, R. – Jobava, B.

0-1

Carlsen, M. – Hou, Y.

1-0

Aronian, L. – Caruana, F.

½-½

Round 8 – Sunday the 18th

Van Wely, L. – Caruana, F.

0-1

Hou, Y. – Aronian, L.

½-½

Jobava, B. – Carlsen, M.

0-1

Radjabov, T. – Wojtaszek, R.

1-0

Ivanchuk, V. – So, W.

0-1

Vachier-Lagrave, M. – Giri, A.

1-0

Ding, L. – Saric, I.

1-0

Round 9 – Tuesday the 20th

Saric, I. – Van Wely, L.

½-½

Giri, A. – Ding, L.

1-0

So, W. – Vachier-Lagrave, M.

½-½

Wojtaszek, R. – Ivanchuk, V.

½-½

Carlsen, M. – Radjabov, T.

1-0

Aronian, L. – Jobava, B.

1-0

Caruana, F. – Hou, Y.

½-½

Round 10 – Wednesday the 21st

Van Wely, L. – Hou, Y.

1-0

Jobava, B. – Caruana, F.

0-1

Radjabov, T. – Aronian, L.

½-½

Ivanchuk, V. – Carlsen, M.

½-½

Vachier-Lagrave, M. – Wojtaszek, R.

½-½

Ding, L. – So, W.

½-½

Saric, I. – Giri, A.

0-1

Round 11 – Friday the 23rd

Giri, A. – Van Wely, L.

1-0

So, W. – Saric, I.

1-0

Wojtaszek, R. – Ding, L.

0-1

Carlsen, M. – Vachier-Lagrave, M.

½-½

Aronian, L. – Ivanchuk, V.

½-½

Caruana, F. – Radjabov, T.

½-½

Hou, Y. – Jobava, B.

1-0

Round 12 – Saturday the 24th

Van Wely, L. – Jobava, B.

½-½

Radjabov, T. – Hou, Y.

½-½

Ivanchuk, V. – Caruana, F.

½-½

Vachier-Lagrave, M. – Aronian, L.

½-½

Ding, L. – Carlsen, M.

½-½

Saric, I. – Wojtaszek, R.

1-0

Giri, A. – So, W.

1-0

Round 13 – Sunday the 25th

So, W. – Van Wely, L.

1-0

Wojtaszek, R. – Giri, A.

½-½

Carlsen, M. – Saric, I.

½-½

Aronian, L. – Ding, L.

0-1

Caruana, F. – Vachier-Lagrave, M.

0-1

Hou, Y. – Ivanchuk, V.

½-½

Jobava, B. – Radjabov, T.

1-0

xxx

As obvious in the individual round results, only Voitaszek managed to prevail over Carlsen in Round 3 (52nd move).

Liren Ding seized the opportunity in the Netherlands and fought his way up the international ELO-rankings of the world’s best chess players. By now, he has reached a well-deserved 14th rank, while Giri and So were able to move to the Top 20 due to their great performances at the Tata Steel Tournament.

After Carlsen was only one point ahead at half time on November 16, the head-to-head race between the current World Champion and challenger, the Indian predecessor Visvanathan Anand, remained suspenseful for another four rounds.

Carlsen was not able to achieve another victory until the 11th round, which was his third victory in the entire tournament (while Anand prevailed once). He was therefore in favor at 6.5:4.5 and was announced victor ahead of schedule.

With almost six and a half hours, Duel No. 7 makes history as the longest match of the World Championship 2014. Vishy player, yet again, the Berlin Defense of the Spanish duel. Up to the 24th move it was an exact replica of Giri and Radjabov’s duel at the Grand Prix Series. Carlsen persistently aimed for victory but Anand was concentrated and his defense enduring. In the end game with Rook and Knight against Rook, Carlsen was still not ready to give up on his intention. Only in the 122nd move he agreed to a draw. If the two would have played three more moves, they would have achieved a new World Championship record.

In the beginning of the 8th Duel, Carlsen made very clear that he took Anand’s thorough preparation seriously. He opened with an aggressive Queen’s gambit variation. Carlsen thwarted the challenger’s plans with an unexpected 9th move.. Re8 that Anand knew no reasonable reaction to. After exchange of Queens and Rooks, the duel continued without further surprises and led to a balanced end game with no winning opportunities for either of the two players. They agreed to a draw after the 41st move.

The first ten moves of the 9th Duel were a repetition of the 7th match. Neither of the two chess talents seemed to be enthusiastic for another six and a half hour long duel. Carlsen decided to deviate from the previous match and made an unusual 11th move (Ke2) which left Anand unimpressed. He was obviously well prepared, responded with an attack engineered by Kramnik and disturbed Carlsen’s strategy. The Norwegian pressured Anand into a draw with a set of three positioning repetitions. After only 20 moves and one hour game time, this duel was over quickly.

Duel No. 10 was dominated by Anand’s attempts to make up for lost chances. With the Grunfeld-Indian variation he gave Carlsen a hard time and was in favorable positioning for a while. Carlsen once again proved that he is worth the honors of holding the World Championship title and kept a good track of the moves on the board which helped him find solid solutions to balance the duel again. After three hours, the match ended in a draw and Carlsen kept the lead at 5.5:4.5 points.

After four racking hours, Carlsen finally secured the third victory in the 11th Duel. The “prodigy” of chess enhanced his advantage to 2 points and took home the World Championship title for another year – preliminary to schedule. Anand was in an unusual risk-seeking mood during the entire duel but the optimism was his fatality that caused him yet another World Championship defeat. This year, however, he will certainly not become target of ridicule and mockery. Carlsen was, after all, the dominant player but Anand was in much better shape than last year and contributed to an extremely exciting World Championship on world-class level.

Since November 8, 2014 Sochi has been the stage of the chess event of the year: World Champion Magnus Carlsen and his predecessor and challenger Visvanathan Anand are once again battling for the title.

While Magnus Carlsen won all twelve rounds last year and Vishy was hopelessly inferior, this year’s competition is a whole different story and a head-to-head race.

Vishy already had already proven the end of the temporary struggle when impressively prevailing at the Candidates’ Tournament in March, the victory at which qualified him for the World Championship. Back then, there were few skeptical observers who predicted a repetition of the devastating defeat of last year’s tournament and had probably hoped for another player challenging Carlsen.

But during the last few days, the Indian has seriously proven the strength to challenge the current World Champion. On world class level the two are fighting a suspenseful tournament and Vishy has not allowed Carlsen to take the upper hand which is certainly owed to the thorough preparation.

Thus, the two both scored half a point at their draw in Round 1on November 8. Anand played the White pieces and chose a clever opening, offering opportunities for both players. Carlsen promptly took his chances and maneuvered into a great positioning with the Grunfeld-Indian defense which left Anand stuck in perpetual check.

After opening the tournament with a tie, Carlsen really wanted to score his first full point in Round 2. With a lot of force he carried through with his desire to win and opened with the Spanish Duel while he was frankly unimpressed by Anand’s Berlin defense. Anand, on the other hand, got increasingly nervous and made a fatal mistake in the 34th move. Shortly after, he resigned.

In Round 3, Anand could finally show how extraordinarily detailed and precise his overall preparation was; he played the White pieces again and immediately moved his passed pawn to C7. He created a particularly complex positioning which was hardly manageable if not explicitly prepared for. At the Bilbao Masters, Aronian and Adams played a similar duel which Anand significantly enhanced to confuse Carlsen – with great success. Carlsen resigned and the two were equal in score again (1.5:1.5).

Carlsen played white in the4th Round. Anand invited to the Sicilian Paulsen Variation and it would have definitely been interesting to see the tricks he had prepared, but Carlsen declined and chose to play an unusual side variation. Probably out of fear to become victim of Anand’s brilliant preparation again. After five hours and perpetual check, the two agreed to a tie.

After Round 5, the two remained equal in score. Anand opened with the Queen’s Pawn – no surprise. The developed a game that, in this very constellation, only Carlsen experienced before. He played quickly and secure calmness, while Anand needed increasingly more thinking time for his moves. Halfway through the match, Anand was slightly ahead through sacrificing his Knight but stood no chance against Carlsen’s excellent training. They agreed to another tie at the 39th move. The result after Round 6: 2.5:2.5.

Right in time for half time, Carlsen finally managed to take the lead. InRound 6he decided the duel in his own favor, before taking a rest day on Saturday. Especially unfortunate for Anand: Carlsen made a crucial mistake at the 26th move which would have granted him a winning position. Anand simply overlooked this opportunity, and at the 38th move Carlsen had managed to take over and force Anand into resignation.

After six out of twelve duels, the score is now 3.5:2.5 in Magnus Carlsen’s favor. But still, everything is possible for both players – it will certainly remain suspenseful.

Stage of this year’s FIDE World Championship of Rapid and Blitz Chess was Dubai; Scheduled from June 15th to 20th and with 126 participants from 44 countries. Amongst them were Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Vishy Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Grischuk, Sergej Karjakin, Peter Svidler, Boris Gelfand, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. tadalafil To mention only a few of the world class participants. Carlsen is certainly the top of the list in the classical rankings of the FIDE, but the number one in matters of Rapid and Blitz Chess is another player: Hikaru Nakamura. Shortly after the event’s opening ceremony on Sunday evening Carlsen admitted: “It is a strange feeling not be seeded first: It bothers me a little and I will change it!”

Head-to-head race in Rapid Chess

On Wednesday evening the chess world knew that Carlsen’s words were not only an empty threat: The Norwegian obtained 11 out of 15 points. He was therefore awarded with the gold medal, 40,000 USD prize money and the title World clomid online Champion in Rapid Chess. Only half a point short were Caruana, Anand, Aronian, and Morozevich who rank in this exact order. All of them got their share of 24,000 USD out of the total amount of 400,000 USD prize money.

Last, not least

The Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi gave Magnus Carlsen a hard time in Blitz Chess. Until the very last (21st) round the two fought a tough battle for 1st place. In the end, Carlsen prevailed with a one point advantage (16 points) and secured his second title. The former Blitz Chess World Champion Hikaru Nakamura also scored 15 points and ranked 3rd. Vishy Anand, who has the honor of challenging Magnus Carlsen sildenafil cost per pill in the World Championship duel of classical chess, collected only 12.5 points and completed the tournament on rank 6.

Carlsen once again managed to continue his sequence of successes. He impressed the world of chess but not himself – he expects no less than the very best of himself. Carlsen states he is http://sildenafilviagra-pharmacy.net/ capable of accomplishing anything. And right now he is on the right path of convincing us of his brilliance.

‘Vishy’ Anand is the one who prevailed at this year’s Candidates’ Tournament and has now the honor to be the challenger of Magnus Carlsen in the World Championship duel. Anand is exactly that World Champion who was able to defend his title from 2007 until 2013. Last year, Carlsen literally made his predecessor look old. After being dethroned, Visvanathan Anand honestly talked about his drop in performance and admitted to his shortcomings. In interviews he told us that he had been suffering from sleepless nights and difficulties to concentrate during the period of the tournament and referred to his opponent Carlsen as “almost the worst thing that could have happened to him”.

Anand’s self-confidence had been dented before the World Championship duel, as he had to comply with several bitter defeats in previous tournaments. His stable playing style was set off balance. Ironically, Anand’s weaknesses were Carlsen’s strengths. Anand made mistakes in harmless positioning and ruined all his chances with one fatal move. Mistakes that he would have never made in his early years. After Anand began talking about altered priorities and stated that his life wasn’t evolving only around chess anymore, most expected a silent withdrawal after the lost World Championship duel.

At the Candidates’ Tournament followed the great surprise: Anand stood out with a remarkable performance. Shortly before, the public had even doubted his attendance and, out of the blue, in the first duel against Aronian he showed the world what the ‘Tiger of Madras’ was still capable of. Not only did he appear well prepared, but also physically fitter than a few months before. The tournament became one of his best in years, and more than deserved he secured the victory as the only undefeated player at the event. Respect and recognition were expressed to him after his victory. On the other hand, he earned skepticism and amazement, as the merciless defeat in his home town Chennai is still a matter of discussion in the world of chess.

This November, we can look forward to a new edition of this duel. When Anand fought over the World Championship title for the first time in 1995 in the 107th floor of the World Trade Center, Carlsen was only four years old and had never held a chess piece in his hands. Twenty-one years of training and experience separate the two chess legends. However, this also means twenty-one years of physical and mental age.

One thing is clear: This year’s World Championship will be nerve wrecking. Anand is currently in perfect shape and has made a promising appearance since his last performance. Whether the defeat in 2013 will motivate him to peak in performance or leaves him in paralyzing anxiety when facing Carlsen again remains to be seen.

Even though Magnus Carlsen is in worldwide hype at the moment – many fans wish the sympathetic Indian, who is fluent in numerous languages (including German) and engaged in several social projects, the victory from the bottom of their hearts.

Once again, Magnus Carlsen has surpassed his own record with his current ELO-rating of 2881 points. Levon Aronian is the only other player exceeding the 2800 mark. Judith Polgar remains in the top position in the women’s category. Arkadij Naiditsch, Elisabeth Pähtz, Matthias Blühbaum, and Rasmus Svane (Juniors), as well as Filiz Osmanodja and Hanna-Marie Klek (girls) are best German players.

Exactly 50 players are currently classified as Super Grandmasters which are Grandmasters with ELO-ratings of 2700 points and above. To become part of the Top 100, one has to have an ELO of 2651 at the moment. With his new rating of 2881, Magnus Carlsen has again raised the bar and surpassed his own record of 2872 points in February 2014.

Magnus Carlsen’s deviation from the average ELO-rating of the Top 100 (2703) now amounts to 178 points. In July 2000, the very beginning of FIDE statistics, Kasparov held an ELO of 2849 points, being 195 above the average of 2644 points at that point in time. Without wanting to degrade Carlsen’s performance; Kasparov’s advantage towards the Top players of the early 2000s was slightly larger than Carlsen’s is today.

Behind Carlsen follows Levon Aronian who is the only other player with an ELO-rating of over 2800 points. Aronian also enhanced his performance indicator by several points.

Best German player continues to be Arkadij Naiditsch who suffered from a short period of crisis. Although he had to sacrifice a few points, he is still above the 2700 mark. Naiditsch is the only German player among the Top 100.

In their new advertising campaign, the jeans brand G-Star Raw attracts with the model Lily Cole. Our reporter interviewed the 26 year-old about checkmate, beauty ideals, and social projects.

The Dada artist Marcel Duchamp considers the game pure poetry, Stefan Zweig used it in his greatest of novelettes, and Lenin was dreadfully tempted by it:

Chess – or the question whether we can determine our own fate with intelligence or are helplessly left to destiny – has fascinated philosophers, artists, and scholars since the Medieval Times. Pope John Paul II even thought of it as the true reflection of life.

Now, the Dutch exclusive jeans brand G-Star Raw is attempting to make the Game of Kings the center of attention of their new Spring/Summer campaign. For that matter, they have recruited two heavy weights of chess: Magnus Carlsen (23) who became World Champion in November 2013, and the British top model Lily Cole (26).

Lily Cole is no easy competitor for the Norwegian chess talent. The unconventional beauty has proved at an early stage that she effortlessly crosses boundaries and switches roles arbitrarily. Whether in the role of Tiffany & Co’s advertisement icon, actress in several movies, model for Prada and Chanel, cover girl of Vogue and Playboy or environmental activist and entrepreneur – the ginger graduate of the elite university Cambridge was reasonably elected “Face of the Future” by an influential New York magazine in 2005.

Just recently, with the blessing of Wikipedia-founder Jimmy Wales, she called into life the website impossible.com that promotes the idea of helping people in need for free. Whoever is still hoping to find a neighbor to help put together furniture or is just looking for good advice can find selfless helpers on her website.